A woman who bought a house in Nellmapius found out the house had also been bought by two other people. File picture: Sisonke Mlamla

Dream of owning a RDP home shattered by a scam

By VIRGILATTE GWANGWA Sep 19, 2018

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Pretoria - Johanna Mamaila’s dream to move out of her three-room shack and own a house has been shattered.

The 50-year-old from Phomolong informal settlement in Mamelodi bought an RDP house, but it turned out she was not the only one - the house had also been bought by two other people.

Mamaila said she bought the RDP house in Nellmapius last November and was promised she could move in after three months.

“Time passed and I called the agent, who told me there were problems at the municipality but that I would definitely move into the house. However, months have passed and nothing has changed,” she said.

The mother of three said she found out the house was on the market on the internet. The company, Hamn Properties, sold it for R185 000, which Mamaile paid within seven days as requested by the company.

“I did not have money, so my daughter got a loan from a bank in order for us to get the house because my children, too, are tired of living in a shack. But when time passed and we saw that we were not moving into the house, we decided to go and check on what was happening there.

“On arrival, we found someone else renting the house. When we told him we had bought it, he said he rented the house from the rightful owners and he was certain they were not selling the house,” she said.

Mamaila’s nightmares became a reality when she was told by the rightful owner, Vincent Mukhari, that the house was not on sale.

She demanded that she be refunded her money. The company then said she would receive the money in April, but five months later Mamaila still does not have her money back.

Mukhari told the Pretoria News the house belonged to his deceased uncle, who left the house to him.

He reiterated that the house was not on sale and never would be. He said the people had been scammed and needed to get their money back.

Hamn Properties' owner Joseph Hlongwane could not be reached for comment.